The Naked Man Festival

Monday afternoon I finally saw one of the most bizarre festivals in the world. The infamous Naked Man Festival in Inazawa City.


Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Man Festival)

I've been trying to see it for years, but for one reason or another I've always missed it. Last year I even tried to participate, but that's a different story for a different time.



I wish I fully understood the historical significance behind the festival, so I could explain why grown men get extremely drunk & naked to go parading down the street in the dead of winter during sub zero temps, but the whole thing makes very little sense to me.



I know it has something to do with 43 year old men and the belief that it's a bad luck year. Supposedly, if a 43 year old man join this festival, it will help bring good luck to him and his family, but judging by some of the characters involved, the whole thing just seems like a great excuse for anybody to get belligerently drunk in public.



My friend Jason and I showed up to the festival a little late after eating lunch in a local resident's house. Soon after walking out to the street I was offered to guzzle sake straight out of the carton by a one eyed, elder Japanese man. When I humbly declined the offer, he vehemently insisted.


Entering the Temple

All the madness in the streets eventually finds it's way to a temple in the middle of the city.

From what I hear, one poor guy is selected beforehand by a lottery to bear the burden of everyone's bad luck. He is completely striped, shaved, and painted white. Then, at an unsuspecting moment, he appears outside the temple with the task of trying to get inside. It's everyone else's task to touch this unlucky bastard to bring themselves good luck and prevent him from making it to his goal.


Buckets

These guys with buckets have the important job of clearing the way and washing away all the bad spirits. They do so by spreading ice cold water all over the already freezing naked guys and anyone in the crowd that might be standing nearby.


Idiot w/ squid

Jason and I were eventually distracted by this guy waving some squid around. He gave intoxicated a whole new meaning when he started trying to speak English and sing "London Bridge is Falling Down" complete with some weird robot dance.


I love how this photo makes him look like he's got a pencil thin mustache

This guy was just too much and he scared off the locals we were with, so Jason and I decided to split too.

Maybe someday, I'll think of a better way to describe this debauchery, but for the time being, I'm still just scratching my head.

Writer Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself

News From The Associated Press



ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -- Hunter S. Thompson, the hard-living writer who inserted himself into his accounts of America's underbelly and popularized a first-person form of journalism in books such as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," has committed suicide.

Kyoto Protocol comes into force

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Kyoto Protocol comes into force

The Kyoto accord, which aims to curb the air pollution blamed for global warming, has come into force seven years after it was agreed.

The accord requires countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Some 141 countries, accounting for 55% of greenhouse gas emissions, have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2% by 2012.

But the world's top polluter - the US - has not signed up to the treaty.

The US says the changes would be too costly to introduce and that the agreement is flawed.

Large developing countries including India, China and Brazil are not required to meet specific targets for now.

The Age of Glorious Optimism

This past week I made a sudden trip back to the USA to attend a family funeral for my Uncle Ned.

He fought a seven month battle against a malicious brain tumor, and tried his best to be the Lance Armstrong of my hometown, but some things aren't meant to be.

This is a very sensitive subject for me to write about, so I'm gonna skip most of the details. To be perfectly honest, it's the first time death has ever entered my direct family, and I'm still struggling with how to cope with it.

I will say this though. The bond that was formed by my family members and the outpouring of compassion by members of the Gainesville, GA community made me very proud of who I am and where I'm from.

This past weekend my two cousins, Harris & Stuart, who have been under incredible stress over the past seven months, along with my brother Darrell and another close friend named Rob, decided to decompress by taking a trip into the mountains of Asheville, NC and stay in a converted 116 year old mansion called the Richmond Hill Inn.


Richmond Hill Inn

I was fortunate enough to join them for one night.

By the time I got there Sunday around 5pm, they were all outside playing croquet in the drizzling rain. As I stood by and watched the malevolent game, they told me stories of the previous night and morning.


Shoes off for better knocking


Brotherly love

There was something about my brother walking up and down the old rickety halls wearing a bathrobe and a black equestrian riding helmet to serve coffee to my cousins. I can only imagine the sideways glances of other guests and staff.


Ignatius J. Reilly ain't got nuthin' on DWG

That night we broke the bank and got suited up in coats and ties to have dinner in the five star dinning room called Gabrielle's located on the first floor of the mansion. We were seated underneath a large chandelier and in front the fire place.


Chandelier

The meal lasted almost four hours and included a bottle of champagne, a pallet pleaser of salmon, an appetizer of scallops, two bottles of bordeaux, seared steak, two plates of cheeses, a glass of port for myself, and a chocolate torte to top it off.


High-brow Mongoloids

Afterwards, we went back to our rooms in silence and decided the meal was fantastic, but the cheeses were a bit too much.


The Age of Indulgence

I have the greatest family in the world, and it hurts that it took losing a main member to help me realize it.